Men die by suicide three times more often than women, with peak risk at ages 45-49. Caroline Cavanagh shares three concrete steps: combat loneliness with small kindnesses, ask someone multiple times when they say they're fine, and explicitly tell people they're valued.
Chapters
Suicide is increasingly common, and I wonder, are you aware that actually 3 times more men create suicide or commit suicide than women? And the most common age groups, and this surprised me a little bit, is that for men, more men commit suicide between the age of 45 and 49, and for women it's 50 and 54. We often think of suicide being a younger person issue, but it's absolutely not. So the 3 techniques that I shared that we can all do to help start making a difference. Firstly, loneliness is a huge cause of suicide, and the antidote to that is feeling connected. And simple things like just smiling at a stranger, opening a door for someone, or just saying kind words to a person standing in the queue behind you whilst you're waiting to pay for something Make a difference. It makes that person feel seen, and it's so easy to do. The second thing is when you ask someone, how are you? Don't just take, I'm fine, as an answer. Ask again, how are you? I'm fine. How are you? Because often it might take 3, 4, 5, actually, I'm not fine. Keep going, because if someone generally is fine, you'll pick that up anyway. And the third tip, and the one that I really think is the most important, is let people know you value them. Doing it by text, great, but looking someone in the eye and go, I really appreciate you doing that. And it may be saying thank you for a job well done or appreciating a kind gesture. Letting people know that their presence, their behaviour makes a difference on someone else is really important.
